Is it possible to learn your language with no dictionary?

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nooj
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Is it possible to learn your language with no dictionary?

Postby nooj » Thu Nov 04, 2021 1:44 pm

Let's say you're learning German or Chinese but all dictionaries and lexicographical material is forbidden to you. No thesaureses, no online dictionaries, no collocation dictionaries etc.

How would you adapt to learning that language?
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Re: Is it possible to learn your language with no dictionary?

Postby rdearman » Thu Nov 04, 2021 1:50 pm

nooj wrote:Let's say you're learning German or Chinese but all dictionaries and lexicographical material is forbidden to you. No thesaureses, no online dictionaries, no collocation dictionaries etc.

How would you adapt to learning that language?

Find a native speaker who knows English who is willing to be constantly badgered with questions.
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Re: Is it possible to learn your language with no dictionary?

Postby aaleks » Thu Nov 04, 2021 2:35 pm

I did it with French, I guess. I called it "my French experiment" which basically was about trying to learn French without textbooks and dictionaries. I just wanted to try it myself to see if this approach would work to me. I didn't try to reach a C1 or C2 level or something like this. The "experiment" part lasted one year (it's been almost two years now since I started it). Based on that experience, if I were to start a new language with no dictionary now I'd try to find some native media available, preferably something with visual clues like tv-series, and then let my brain to do 'the magic' ;) . This is a short answer. A longer one is my log where I was writing about the experiment: what I did, watched, results, etc.
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Re: Is it possible to learn your language with no dictionary?

Postby Monty » Thu Nov 04, 2021 2:59 pm

nooj wrote:Let's say you're learning German or Chinese but all dictionaries and lexicographical material is forbidden to you. No thesaureses, no online dictionaries, no collocation dictionaries etc.

How would you adapt to learning that language?


Why do you ask?
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Re: Is it possible to learn your language with no dictionary?

Postby Lawyer&Mom » Thu Nov 04, 2021 3:19 pm

Pick a language with a million cognates and you’ll be fine. I’m doing mass input with French and I haven’t used the dictionary in years. I did do a ton of Clozemaster in the beginning, so I suppose bilingual texts are a way to avoid the dictionary.
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Re: Is it possible to learn your language with no dictionary?

Postby 白田龍 » Thu Nov 04, 2021 3:31 pm

If you have a monolingual corpus, you can figure out the meaning of most words from context, by comparing various usage examples.
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Re: Is it possible to learn your language with no dictionary?

Postby AllSubNoDub » Thu Nov 04, 2021 3:38 pm

I think the question needs a little clarification. Are you allowed to use courses that give bilingual definitions to start? If that's the case, there's no reason - though it may be a rocky start - that you couldn't eventually graduate to a monolingual dictionary in the target language intended for native speakers (assuming those are also allowed).
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Re: Is it possible to learn your language with no dictionary?

Postby german2k01 » Thu Nov 04, 2021 4:05 pm

Let's say you're learning German or Chinese but all dictionaries and lexicographical material is forbidden to you. No thesaureses, no online dictionaries, no collocation dictionaries etc.

How would you adapt to learning that language?


I would buy a lot of bilingual books. On one side German and on the other side English. This way if you are persistent enough you can develop a good vocabulary range by just reading alone. Then read easy books and accept ambiguity along the way. I will also watch a lot of television series, the same words and collocations are repeated ad nauseam in every episode. With enough visual clues, you can decipher the meaning; trust your language device. Our God is very clever.

I would like to mention two real examples to back this up. I learned the word "notwendigkeit" through watching the Homeland series dubbed in German. It was repeated in every episode. In a real conversation with my German doctor; being a native he had to look it up in an online dictionary, however, my subconscious mind was dead sure that it had deciphered the correct meaning and had used it in the right context. It was right in the end.

The second example, a week ago I was signing my work contract. The German lady asked me "Haben Sie Schulden?" I did not know the meaning of Schulden, however, my subconscious mind knew the meaning of "Schuld" meaning "Guilty" within a couple of seconds it used all its background information to process its true meaning; it could not be "guilty" within the conversational context going on; I asked the lady could she use the English word for it; she said she did not know it however she could look it up in an online dictionary. Again my subconscious mind came up with "debts" given the context and I told her it might be "debts" before she actually confirmed it up in the online dictionary.

Think of your native language; Did you use any dictionaries?
Last edited by german2k01 on Thu Nov 04, 2021 8:54 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Is it possible to learn your language with no dictionary?

Postby einzelne » Thu Nov 04, 2021 4:37 pm

nooj wrote:How would you adapt to learning that language?


Joseph Jacotot's approach? Although, before going though the bilingual edition, his students got explicit instruction regarding key grammatical differences between French and Dutch.
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Re: Is it possible to learn your language with no dictionary?

Postby Le Baron » Thu Nov 11, 2021 9:01 pm

I reckon I'd take up woodwork instead.
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